Edmund tweedy and theodore saunders



NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

EDMUND TWVEEDY AND THEODORE SAUNDERS, OF DANBURY, CONNECTI- CUT,ASSIGNORS TO THE BOILER CAPSULE AND GASKET COMPANY, OF

SAME PLACE.

METHOD OF CLEANING SURFACE CONDENSERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 551 ,012, datedDecember 10, 1895.

Application filed March 26, 1894. Serial No. 505,131. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDMUND TWEEDY and THEODORE SAUNDERS, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Danbury, in the county of Fairfield andState of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Methods of Cleaning Surface Condensers, of which the following isaspecification.

Surface condensers are constructed with a large congeries of pipes,tubes, or other passages for the circulation of a cooling liquid, placedclosely together for obtaining a great extent of surfaces in a limitedspace, which surfaces, after some use, become fouled by a I 5 gummy orgreasy deposit, so that the efliciency of the condenser is reduced, andas this deposit has to be removed and the surfaces upon which itcollects are too near together to be scraped while in place it has beencus- 2o tomary to havethe surfaces removed and separately scraped, whichwith a condenser having a large number of pipes is a very expensiveoperation, as it requires much labor and loss of time; and the object ofthis in- 2 5 vention is to provide a cheap and convenient method ofcleaning such condensing-surfaces without removing them from thecondenser or disturbing the condenser or its connections and also toprovide a simple apparatus for 0 rapidly carrying out this method.

To this end the invention consists in the method of and means forapplying to the condensing-surfaces a cleaning fluid that will actchemically on the deposit to be removed and agitating the same bycurrents of air or other gas, whereby the chemical action of thecleansing fluid on the deposit will be facilitated by a mechanicalaction, which more thoroughly causes the fluid to be brought into 0intimate contact with all of the deposit, thus insuring its entiredissolution and complete removal.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate means capableof carrying out the invention, Figure 1 represents a marine engine andboiler with a condenser and means for cleaning it. Fig. 2 shows anenlarged sectional view of a condenser and an apparatus that may be usedfor cleaning'the same according to this method.

Surface condensers A, as usually constructed, have a cylindrical orrectangular shell 1, of iron, brass, or other metal, with removableouter heads 2 and inner heads 3, which are perforated to support andhold a large vnumber of pipes 4, that are placed closely together withinthe shell, and the water or other cooling fluid is forced by a pump 13through an inlet 5 and caused to circulate through some of the pipes inone direction and others in the opposite direction and then pass awaythrough an outlet 6. The exhauststeam from the engine C passes throughthe steam-induct 7 into the chamber 8 and is there condensed by contactwith the coolingpipes, the water of condensation, together with the airand other gases in the chamber, being drawn through the educt 9 by anairpump D, which retains the vacuum in the condensing-chamber and sendsthe water to the hot-well, from which it is pumped to the boiler E to beagain converted into steam for driving the engine.

Whenthe exhaust-steam from the engine passes into the condenser, itcarries particles of the lubricants used in the engine and otherimpurities which are volatilized by the heated fluid, and theseparticles coming in contact with the cooling-pipes or othercondensingsurfaces are precipitated and deposited upon the pipes andinterior surface of the condensing-chamber in the form of a thickviscous substance, the accumulation of which prevents the propercondensation of steam and causes alowering of the vacuum, with aconsequent loss of power. As the lubricants mostly used are mineraloils, this deposit is of a pitchy character, which adheres to the pipeswith great tenacity and is not readily soluble, and to remove it fromthe pipes, which are too close together to admit of the insertion of amechanical miXerfor agitating any cleansing compound or to permit of thesurfaces being scraped when in place, it has been considered necessaryto take out the pipes and scrape 5 each one separately, which is alaborious and expensive operation, requiring considerable skill, and canonly be performed when the condenser is not in use.

With this present process a considerable I00 quantity of cleansing fluidis placed in the steam-chamber 8 of the condenser "A. The cleansingfluid preferably is in a liquid state and may be composed of a varietyof substances, its composition depending mainly upon the character andquantity of the deposits to be removed. lVhen animal or vege table oilsor substances are used for lubricatand we do not limit ourselves to theparticular ones herein specified, 1 our invention bein g present whenthe cleaning fluid used contains a solvent of one or more oftheingredients of the deposit.

The cleaning fluid may be kept in. a conveniently-located tank F andforced by a pump G through a pipe 1.0 into the condenserchamber when itis desired to clean the pipes until it nearly fills the steam-chamberand surrounds the cooling-pipes 4. The fluidis then violent-1y agitatedand caused to rapidly circulate a1 und and between the pipes by air orother gas currents'or blasts ejected into the chamber by means ofagas-pumpi 1-1 through a pipe 11, which preferably extends from the pumpII to the bottom of the condenser, where it passes through the shell andterminates in the interior in a pipe 12, having suitable nozzles oropenings for project ing the gas-currents in the properdirections tocause the most elfective and violent agitation of the cleaning fluid.The strong gascurrents pass between and around the closelyingcooling-pipes and carry the cleansing fluid, "which is thus not onlywell mixed and circulated to every part of the interior of the chamber,so as to be brought into contact with all of the foul surfaces, wherebythe substances can chemically act on all the mass to be removed, so asto dissolve it,but the particles conveyed by the gas-blast act with amechanical friction or attrition on the viscous mass and clean or scrapethe partiallydissolved portions from the surfaces of the pipes to becleaned, which mechanical action also aids the rapid dissolution of thesubstances under action of the solvent by circulating the dissolvedportionan'd exposing the undissolved quantities to the chemical andmechanical action of the gas-ejected cleaning fluid. This gas-agitatedcleaning fluid that acts mechanically and chemically on the substancesto be removed will ptiss through small spaces between the pipesand intocorners in which a scraper or mechanical mixer could not be inserted andwill very quickly and thoroughly dissolveand hold in suspension thefouling substances,"so they can be removed with the cleaning fluid byreversing the action of the pump and drawing out the liquid or allowingit to run into a discharge. The cleaning fluid can be used more thanonce if the condensers are not too foul, and

when it is desired to keep it for further use the fluid can be readilypumped back into the tank and retained ready for use.

It is preferred to first put the cleaning fluid into thecondenser-chamber and then agitate it by the gas-blasts; but, ifdesired, a pipe 13 may be connected between the pipe 11 from thegas-pump and the pipe 10 from the liquid-pump, so that the gas maybeforced with the fluid into the chamber and a more violent agitationproduced while the condenser is being filled with fluid, a threeqvay orother suitable controlling-cock l l being placed in the pipe system, ifthis is desired, to, properly direct the air-currents for this purpose.A very conve nientand simple apparatus for accomplishing this method isillustrated in the drawings, where .a rotary gas-pump lliand arotaryliquid-pun1p G are placed on the same base with a rotary engine I, thatcan be connected withfthe boiler Eby a pipe 15,:u1 beingarranged sofasto be connected to the same shaft 16 by couplings 17. Of course, if.desired the cleaning fluid can be placed in the condenser-chamberthrough one of the topmanholes 18 and after usemay be allowed to escapethrough a bottom manhole 19; but it is preferredto utilize the-pump andsave the fluid' for further use.

If desired, apipe of hose 20 may lead from the interior of thecondenserto the exterior of the engine-room or other convenient locality forleadingiaway the air or other gas currentsused in agitating the cleaningfluid,

and this is particularly important if such a cleaning fluid is used thatits agitation liberates noxious or otherwise"dangerous gases or vapors.7

By means of this method the, pitchy deposit which is caused by theprecipitation of the solid matters of the lubricant used-in the engine,with the other impurities from the water, can be quickly dissolved andrapidly washed from the close-lying, pipes or other condensing-surfaceswithout removing them from the condenser, obviatinga great amount oflabor,- saving a vast period of time, and without in anywaydisturbingthe condenser or its connectionsand the many joints of thepipes, and=whilesaving the expense incident to this the condenser can becleanedmore often, thus economizin g the power and saving waste. Thismethod also,furthermore,leaves the pipes and their connections in thecondenser in a better conditionthat is, less worn-than when they areremoved and me chanically scraped or when subjected to a very powerfulacidsolvent which cannot be violently agitated.

This method is particularly applicable and effective for use inconnection with marineengine plants, which-previously could only becleaned when the vessel was in port; but this present application of thecleansing fluid and its agitation can be accomplished by a simpleportable apparatus that can be brought aboard when the vessel is inport, or it can be made a part of the plant of the ship, so that themethod can be practiced very effectively at any time the ship is hove toor anchored in a very short period by unskilled labor, obviating anexpensive delay in port. The great advantages of this'method, however,result from its simplicity, its effectiveness, the rapidity with whichit can be practiced, and the little wear it effects upon the parts ofthe condenser, with the consequent saving of labor and expense, and theadditional purity of the water for the boiler obtained by the frequentuse of this method economizes the power and also relieves the filterusually placed in the hot-well.

\Ve claim as our invention The method of removing the deposit from thecondensing surfaces in condensers without dismantling the same, whichconsists in introducing into the condenser which is to be cleaned, aliquid which is a solvent of one or more of the oleaginous,pitchy orgummy bind ing components of said deposit, and in violently agitatingsaid liquid by forcing a gas into the liquid in the condenser betweenthe surfaces to be cleaned, thereby forming apartial solution and apartial mixture of the ingredients of said depositwith said liquid, andcausing said solution and mixture to abrade said deposit, and inwithdrawing the resulting fluid from the condenser Without removing thesurfaces cleaned, substantially as specified.

EDMUND TWEEDY. THEODORE SAUNDERS.

Witnesses:

M. H. GRIFFING,

.T. H. \VILDMAN.

